The third dorm at IMG Academy in Bradenton is a five-story structure with 250 rooms. The building completes the athletic-focused school’s residential core.

“It helps us grow to our ultimate goal,” says IMG Academy Vice President and Head of School Chris Locke. IMG, he says, wants to cap its enrollment at 1,400 students and the three dorm buildings will allow them to reach that level.

Courtesy, photo by Karen Arango/IMG Academy.

The buildings are used by academy students who follow the nine-month academic year and also by campers who come to IMG for shorter periods of time. “We definitely have demand in both our full-time academy programs and our camp programs,” Locke says.

The dorm buildings provide a backdrop for the recreation complex, says Stu Henderson, Fawley Bryant Architecture principal and director of design. At the complex, students can gather and use a resort pool, lap pool, turf field, sand volleyball court and basketball court.

“Our kids work really hard,” says Locke. “They are competitive and engaged, and this is a space where they can actually have down time. They tend to unwind and relax in more of an active mode than other teenagers their age.”

As for materials used for the project, durability was important. “As most folks know, kids today are pretty rough on buildings,” Henderson says. “We wanted to have some durable materials but we wanted it to feel more upscale.”

• Start Date: Dorm construction began in August 2017. Recreation complex construction began in May 2018.

• Completion: Dorm was completed and opened in August. The recreation complex had a soft opening in August and will be fully complete in October.

• Value: Dorm, $19 million; recreation complex, $2 million

• Size: Five stories, 250 dorm rooms

• Challenge: “It’s an active campus, and there are kids everywhere, so building anything at IMG is challenging keeping the kids safe,” says Stu Henderson, Fawley Bryant Architecture principal and director of design. Another challenge? Henderson says because of the academy’s growth, IMG needs projects done as quickly as possible and wanted this building ready for the start of the new school year.